DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 , 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiu et al., CN 212428383 U (hereinafter Qiu) [Note: paragraph numbers are from the Espacenet machine translation of the description and claims of CN212428383U], in view of Velicanin, US 10174528 B2.
Regarding claim 1, Qiu teaches a vehicular exterior door handle assembly [0002], the vehicular exterior door handle assembly comprising:
an actuator (Fig 3), wherein the actuator is electrically operable [0059] to move the handle portion between the recessed position and the deployed position (it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application that the [0009] discussion regards operating the door handle between operating positions);
wherein the actuator comprises (i) a housing (shell 1), (ii) an electrically operable motor (motor 7) disposed within the housing (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts 7 disposed within 1) and (iii) a plunger (output screw 8) disposed partially within the housing (Fig 1 depicts 8 disposed partially within 1);
wherein the plunger extends from within the housing along a passageway (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) of the housing and partially exterior the housing (Fig 1 depicts 8 extending partially exterior from 1);
wherein the actuator, when the electrically operable motor is electrically operated, drives the plunger axially along the passageway of the housing to move the handle portion between the recessed position and the deployed position [0060]; and
wherein the actuator comprises a sleeve (sealing ring 31; sealing sleeve 32) within the housing [0055], and wherein the plunger extends through the sleeve (Fig 1 and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts 8 extending through 32), and wherein the sleeve engages the plunger and an inner surface (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) of the housing at or near the passageway to preclude moisture from entering the housing [0055].
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Annotated excerpt Fig 3-QIu
Qui is silent on the structure of the vehicular exterior door handle assembly comprising a base portion configured to mount the vehicular exterior door handle assembly at a door of a vehicle; a handle portion movable relative to the base portion; wherein the handle portion comprises a grasping portion; wherein, with the vehicular exterior door handle assembly mounted at the door of the vehicle, the handle portion is movable relative to the base portion between (i) a recessed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion is recessed at the base portion and not graspable by a user and (ii) a deployed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion protrudes outward from the base portion and is graspable by the user.
Velicanin teaches it is known in the art for a vehicular exterior door handle assembly [Abstract] comprising: a base portion (handle housing 1) configured to mount the vehicular exterior door handle assembly at a door of a vehicle (Fig 6 depicts 1 mounted at the door of a vehicle); a handle portion (pulling handle 2) movable relative to the base portion (see movement between Fig 1 and Fig 5); wherein the handle portion comprises a grasping portion (see Annotated excerpt Fig 5-Velacanin); wherein, with the vehicular exterior door handle assembly mounted at the door of the vehicle, the handle portion is movable relative to the base portion between (i) a recessed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion is recessed at the base portion and not graspable by a user (Fig 1 depicts the recessed position) and (ii) a deployed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion protrudes outward from the base portion and is graspable by the user (Fig 5 depicts the deployed position).
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Annotated excerpt Fig 5-Velacanin
The Supreme Court in KSR noted that the analysis supporting a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 should be made explicit. The Court quoting In re Kahn, 441 F.3d 977, 988, 78 USPQ2d 1329, 1336 (Fed. Cir. 2006), stated that “‘[R]ejections on obviousness cannot be sustained by mere conclusory statements; instead, there must be some articulated reasoning with some rational underpinning to support the legal conclusion of obviousness.’” KSR, 550 U.S. at 418, 82 USPQ2d at 1396. Exemplary rationales that may support a conclusion of obviousness include:
(A) Combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results;
(B) Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results;
(C) Use of known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way;
(D) Applying a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results;
(E) “Obvious to try” – choosing from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success;
(F) Known work in one field of endeavor may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one based on design incentives or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art;
(G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention.
See MPEP § 2143 for a discussion of the rationales listed above along with examples illustrating how the cited rationales may be used to support a finding of obviousness. See also MPEP § 2144 - § 2144.09 for additional guidance regarding support for obviousness determinations.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, using KSR Rationale B, to substitute the silent handle disclosed by Qiu with the explicit handle of Velicanin. The prior art contains vehicular exterior door handle assembly which differs from the claimed device by the substitution of a component (the silent handle disclosed by Qiu) with another component (the explicit handle disclosed by Velicanin). Vehicular exterior door handle assemblies with explicit structure are known in the art, as evidenced by Velicanin and Kim et al., US 20250020003 A1. Velicanin’s handle is operated, as depicted in Fig 1, by an electric motor drive providing force 4 in the same linear manner as Qiu’s electric motor 7. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to substitute a silent handle for an explicit structure handle in order to better define the overall apparatus to support sourcing and manufacturing. One of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known element for another with a reasonable expectation of success and the results of the substitution would have been predictable, namely an actuator driving a vehicular exterior door handle in the same manner as the assembly disclosed by Qiu.
Regarding claim 2, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 1, wherein the sleeve (31; 32) comprises a body portion (32) and a sealing portion (31), and wherein the sealing portion engages the plunger (8) and the inner surface of the housing [0055].
Regarding claim 3, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 2, wherein the body portion (32) comprises a ramped interface (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu), and wherein the ramped interface engages the housing (1) to urge the sealing portion (31) into engagement with the inner surface of the housing ([0055] discusses how 31; 32 are used to improve waterproof and dustproof performance and Fig 4 and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depict the engagement of 31;32 with the inner surface of 1 so it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application 8 is compressed between the 31 and the inner surface of 1).
Regarding claim 4, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 2, wherein the sealing portion (31) comprises a rubber material (it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application that the O-ring 31 of Qiu comprised a rubber material, as also taught by Thoren, US 4181335 A, page 2, lines 55-57) overmolded (Please note that this is a product by process claim and the process does not provide patentable distinction because determination of patentability is based on the product itself as described in MPEP 2113, part of which is included below. Even though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process." In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985) (citations omitted) (Claim was directed to a novolac color developer. The process of making the developer was allowed. The difference between the inventive process and the prior art was the addition of metal oxide and carboxylic acid as separate ingredients instead of adding the more expensive pre-reacted metal carboxylate. The product-by-process claim was rejected because the end product, in both the prior art and the allowed process, ends up containing metal carboxylate. The fact that the metal carboxylate is not directly added, but is instead produced in-situ does not change the end product). Furthermore, "because validity is determined based on the requirements of patentability, a patent is invalid if a product made by the process recited in a product-by-process claim is anticipated by or obvious from prior art products, even if those prior art products are made by different processes." Amgen Inc. v. F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd., 580 F.3d 1340, 1370 n 14, 92 USPQ2d 1289, 1312, n 14 (Fed. Cir. 2009). See also Purdue Pharma v. Epic Pharma, 811 F.3d 1345, 117 USPQ2d 1733 (Fed. Cir. 2016). However, in the context of an infringement analysis, a product-by-process claim is only infringed by a product made by the process recited in the claim. Id. at 1370 ( "a product in the prior art made by a different process can anticipate a product-by-process claim, but an accused product made by a different process cannot infringe a product-by-process claim") with a non-compressible material of the body portion (32; in essence overmolding is the merging to multiple parts, in the case two parts, into a unitary structure; In re Larson, 340 F.2d 965, 968, 144 USPQ 347, 349 (CCPA 1965) (A claim to a fluid transporting vehicle was rejected as obvious over a prior art reference which differed from the prior art in claiming a brake drum integral with a clamping means, whereas the brake disc and clamp of the prior art comprise several parts rigidly secured together as a single unit), the court affirmed the rejection holding, among other reasons, "that the use of a one piece construction instead of the structure disclosed in [the prior art] would be merely a matter of obvious engineering choice"; therefore the making integral of Qiu 31 and 32 would be a matter of obvious engineering choice).
Regarding claim 5, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 2, wherein the sealing portion (31) comprises an O-ring that is compressed between the body portion and the inner surface of the housing ([0055] discusses how 31;32 are used to improve waterproof and dustproof performance and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts this engagement so it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application compressed between the 31 and the inner surface of 1).
Regarding claim 6, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 1, wherein the sleeve (31; 32) comprises a collar (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) that extends at least partially within the passageway of the housing ([0055] discusses 32 fitted into output port 3 therefore it would extend at least partially within the passageway).
Regarding claim 7, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 6, wherein the collar (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) comprises an outer diameter (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts the collar having an outer diameter), and wherein the passageway (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) of the housing (1) comprises an inner diameter (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts the passageway having an inner diameter), and wherein the outer diameter is greater than the inner diameter (Fig 1 and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depict the outer diameter to be greater than the inner diameter because 32 is mounted in 3).
Regarding claim 8, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 6, wherein the collar (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) is compressed between the plunger (8) and a surface of the passageway (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) of the housing (1; [0055] discusses how 32 is used to improve waterproof and dustproof performance and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts this engagement so it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application compressed between the 32 and the inner surface of 1).
Regarding claim 9, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 1, wherein the sleeve (31; 32) comprises an inner cylindrical surface, and wherein the inner cylindrical surface engages the plunger (8; Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts 31;32 to have an inner cylindrical surface with engages 8; [0055]).
Regarding claim 10, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing (1) comprises a first portion and a second portion that are joined together (Fig 1 and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts 1 having first and second portions that join together).
Regarding claim 11, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 10, wherein the passageway (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) is formed through the second portion (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) of the housing (1; Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts the passageway formed in the second portion of 1).
Regarding claim 12, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 10, wherein the passageway (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) is disposed between the first portion and the second portion (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts the passageway disposed between the first and second portions).
Regarding claim 14, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 1, wherein the inner surface (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) of the housing (1) extends in a direction transverse to a direction of the passageway (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts the passageway extending left to right while also depicting the inner surface of 1 extending transversely top to bottom).
Regarding claim 15, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 1, wherein the inner surface (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) of the housing (1) comprises a surface of the passageway (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts the inner surface of 1 comprising the surface of the passageway).
Regarding claim 16, Qiu teaches a vehicular exterior door handle assembly, the vehicular exterior door handle assembly comprising:
an actuator (Fig 3), wherein the actuator is electrically operable [0059] to move the handle portion between the recessed position and the deployed position (it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application that the [0009] discussion regards operating the door handle between operating positions;
wherein the actuator comprises (i) a housing (shell 1), (ii) an electrically operable motor (motor 7)disposed within the housing (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts 7 disposed within 1) and (iii) a plunger (output screw 8) disposed partially within the housing (Fig 1 depicts 8 disposed partially within 1);
wherein the plunger extends from within the housing along a passageway (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) of the housing and partially exterior the housing (Fig 1 depicts 8 extending partially exterior from 1);
wherein the housing comprises a first portion and a second portion that are joined together (Fig 1 and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts 1 having first and second portions that join together), and wherein the passageway is formed through the second portion of the housing (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts the passageway formed in the second portion of 1);
wherein the actuator, when the electrically operable motor is electrically operated, drives the plunger axially along the passageway of the housing to move the handle portion between the recessed position and the deployed position [0060];
wherein the actuator comprises a sleeve (sealing ring 31; sealing sleeve 32) within the housing [0055], and wherein the sleeve comprises a body portion (32) and a sealing portion (31); and
wherein the plunger extends through the sleeve (Fig 1 and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts 8 extending through 32), and wherein the sealing portion of the sleeve engages the plunger and an inner surface of the second portion of the housing at or near the passageway to preclude moisture from entering the housing [0055].
Qui is silent on the structure of the vehicular exterior door handle assembly comprising a base portion configured to mount the vehicular exterior door handle assembly at a door of a vehicle; a handle portion movable relative to the base portion; wherein the handle portion comprises a grasping portion; wherein, with the vehicular exterior door handle assembly mounted at the door of the vehicle, the handle portion is movable relative to the base portion between (i) a recessed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion is recessed at the base portion and not graspable by a user and (ii) a deployed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion protrudes outward from the base portion and is graspable by the user.
Velicanin teaches it is known in the art for a vehicular exterior door handle assembly [Abstract] comprising: a base portion (handle housing 1) configured to mount the vehicular exterior door handle assembly at a door of a vehicle (Fig 6 depicts 1 mounted at the door of a vehicle); a handle portion (pulling handle 2) movable relative to the base portion (see movement between Fig 1 and Fig 5); wherein the handle portion comprises a grasping portion (see Annotated excerpt Fig 5-Velacanin); wherein, with the vehicular exterior door handle assembly mounted at the door of the vehicle, the handle portion is movable relative to the base portion between (i) a recessed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion is recessed at the base portion and not graspable by a user (Fig 1 depicts the recessed position) and (ii) a deployed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion protrudes outward from the base portion and is graspable by the user (Fig 5 depicts the deployed position).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, using KSR Rationale B, to substitute the silent handle disclosed by Qiu with the explicit handle of Velicanin. The prior art contains vehicular exterior door handle assembly which differs from the claimed device by the substitution of a component (the silent handle disclosed by Qiu) with another component (the explicit handle disclosed by Velicanin). Vehicular exterior door handle assemblies with explicit structure are known in the art, as evidenced by Velicanin and Kim et al., US 20250020003 A1. Velicanin’s handle is operated, as depicted in Fig 1, by an electric motor drive providing force 4 in the same linear manner as Qiu’s electric motor 7. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to substitute a silent handle for an explicit structure handle in order to better define the overall apparatus to support sourcing and manufacturing. One of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known element for another with a reasonable expectation of success and the results of the substitution would have been predictable, namely an actuator driving a vehicular exterior door handle in the same manner as the assembly disclosed by Qiu.
Regarding claim 17, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 16, wherein the body portion (32) comprises a ramped interface (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu), and wherein the ramped interface engages the first portion of the housing (1) to urge the sealing portion (31) into engagement with the inner surface of the second portion of the housing ([0055] discusses how 31; 32 is used to improve waterproof and dustproof performance and Fig 4 and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depict the engagement of 31;32 with the inner surface of 1 so it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application 8 is compressed between the 31 and the inner surface of 1).
Regarding claim 18, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 16, wherein the sealing portion (31) comprises a rubber material (it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application that the O-ring 31 of Qiu comprised a rubber material, as also taught by Thoren, US 4181335 A, page 2, lines 55-57) overmolded (Please note that this is a product by process claim and the process does not provide patentable distinction because determination of patentability is based on the product itself as described in MPEP 2113, part of which is included below. Even though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process." In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985) (citations omitted) (Claim was directed to a novolac color developer. The process of making the developer was allowed. The difference between the inventive process and the prior art was the addition of metal oxide and carboxylic acid as separate ingredients instead of adding the more expensive pre-reacted metal carboxylate. The product-by-process claim was rejected because the end product, in both the prior art and the allowed process, ends up containing metal carboxylate. The fact that the metal carboxylate is not directly added, but is instead produced in-situ does not change the end product). Furthermore, "because validity is determined based on the requirements of patentability, a patent is invalid if a product made by the process recited in a product-by-process claim is anticipated by or obvious from prior art products, even if those prior art products are made by different processes." Amgen Inc. v. F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd., 580 F.3d 1340, 1370 n 14, 92 USPQ2d 1289, 1312, n 14 (Fed. Cir. 2009). See also Purdue Pharma v. Epic Pharma, 811 F.3d 1345, 117 USPQ2d 1733 (Fed. Cir. 2016). However, in the context of an infringement analysis, a product-by-process claim is only infringed by a product made by the process recited in the claim. Id. at 1370 ( "a product in the prior art made by a different process can anticipate a product-by-process claim, but an accused product made by a different process cannot infringe a product-by-process claim") with a non-compressible material of the body portion (32; in essence overmolding is the merging to multiple parts, in the case two parts, into a unitary structure; In re Larson, 340 F.2d 965, 968, 144 USPQ 347, 349 (CCPA 1965) (A claim to a fluid transporting vehicle was rejected as obvious over a prior art reference which differed from the prior art in claiming a brake drum integral with a clamping means, whereas the brake disc and clamp of the prior art comprise several parts rigidly secured together as a single unit), the court affirmed the rejection holding, among other reasons, "that the use of a one piece construction instead of the structure disclosed in [the prior art] would be merely a matter of obvious engineering choice"; therefore the making integral of Qiu 31 and 32 would be a matter of obvious engineering choice).
Regarding claim 19, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 16, wherein the sealing portion (31) comprises an O-ring that is compressed between the body portion and the inner surface of the second portion of the housing ([0055] discusses how 31 is used to improve waterproof and dustproof performance and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts this engagement so it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application compressed between the 31 and the inner surface of 1).
Regarding claim 20, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 16, wherein the sealing portion (31) of the sleeve (31; 32) comprises an inner cylindrical surface, and wherein the inner cylindrical surface engages the plunger (8; Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts 31;32 to have an inner cylindrical surface with engages 8; [0055]).
Claims 13, 21, 22, 23, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiu, CN 212428383 U, in view of Velicanin, US 10174528 B2, as applied to claims 10 above, and further in view of Sobecki, US 20200102773 A1.
Regarding claim 13, Qiu in view of Velicanin teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 10.
Qiu is silent on wherein a gasket is disposed between the first portion and the second portion but Fig 3 appears to depict the groove in the housing where a gasket would be placed. Paragraph [0055] discusses in depth the sealing of power connection port 2 and output port 3 so it would have been likely that Qiu would also seal the housing to which both ports are located.
Sobecki teaches it is known in the vehicular exterior door handle assembly art for a housing (48) comprising a first portion (48a) and a second portion (48b) to comprise wherein a gasket is disposed between the first portion and the second portion [0056].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, using KSR Rationale C, to modify the housing of Qiu with housing gasket of Sobecki. The prior art contains a “base” device upon which the claimed invention can be seen as an “improvement” and a “comparable” device that has been improved the same way as the claimed invention. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to explicitly add a housing gasket in order to improve the environmental performance of the vehicular exterior door handle assembly. One of ordinary skill in the art could have applied the known “improvement” in the same way to the “base” device with a reasonable expectation of success and the results would have been predictable, namely actuator housing with the edge of the housing sealed as well as the exterior ports of the housing.
Regarding claim 21, Qiu teaches a vehicular exterior door handle assembly, the vehicular exterior door handle assembly comprising:
an actuator (Fig 3), wherein the actuator is electrically operable [0059] to move the handle portion between the recessed position and the deployed position (it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application that the [0009] discussion regards operating the door handle between operating positions);
wherein the actuator comprises (i) a housing (shell 1), (ii) an electrically operable motor (motor 7) disposed within the housing(Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts 7 disposed within 1) and (iii) a plunger (output screw 8) disposed partially within the housing (Fig 1 depicts 8 disposed partially within 1);
wherein the housing comprises a first portion and a second portion that are joined together (Fig 1 and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts 1 having first and second portions that join together),
wherein the plunger extends from within the housing along a passageway (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) of the housing and partially exterior the housing (Fig 1 depicts 8 extending partially exterior from 1);
wherein the actuator, when the electrically operable motor is electrically operated, drives the plunger axially along the passageway of the housing to move the handle portion between the recessed position and the deployed position [0060];
wherein the actuator comprises a sleeve (sealing ring 31; sealing sleeve 32) within the housing, and wherein the plunger extends through the sleeve (Fig 1 and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts 8 extending through 32); and
wherein the sleeve comprises a collar (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) that extends at least partially within the passageway of the housing ([0055] discusses 32 fitted into output port 3 therefore it would extend at least partially within the passageway), and wherein the collar engages the plunger and a surface of the passageway to preclude moisture from entering the housing [055].
Qui is silent on the structure of the vehicular exterior door handle assembly comprising a base portion configured to mount the vehicular exterior door handle assembly at a door of a vehicle; a handle portion movable relative to the base portion; wherein the handle portion comprises a grasping portion; wherein, with the vehicular exterior door handle assembly mounted at the door of the vehicle, the handle portion is movable relative to the base portion between (i) a recessed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion is recessed at the base portion and not graspable by a user and (ii) a deployed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion protrudes outward from the base portion and is graspable by the user.
Velicanin teaches it is known in the art for a vehicular exterior door handle assembly [Abstract] comprising: a base portion (handle housing 1) configured to mount the vehicular exterior door handle assembly at a door of a vehicle (Fig 6 depicts 1 mounted at the door of a vehicle); a handle portion (pulling handle 2) movable relative to the base portion (see movement between Fig 1 and Fig 5); wherein the handle portion comprises a grasping portion (see Annotated excerpt Fig 5-Velacanin); wherein, with the vehicular exterior door handle assembly mounted at the door of the vehicle, the handle portion is movable relative to the base portion between (i) a recessed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion is recessed at the base portion and not graspable by a user (Fig 1 depicts the recessed position) and (ii) a deployed position where the grasping portion of the handle portion protrudes outward from the base portion and is graspable by the user (Fig 5 depicts the deployed position).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, using KSR Rationale B, to substitute the silent handle disclosed by Qiu with the explicit handle of Velicanin. The prior art contains vehicular exterior door handle assembly which differs from the claimed device by the substitution of a component (the silent handle disclosed by Qiu) with another component (the explicit handle disclosed by Velicanin). Vehicular exterior door handle assemblies with explicit structure are known in the art, as evidenced by Velicanin and Kim et al., US 20250020003 A1. Velicanin’s handle is operated, as depicted in Fig 1, by an electric motor drive providing force 4 in the same linear manner as Qiu’s electric motor 7. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to substitute a silent handle for an explicit structure handle in order to better define the overall apparatus to support sourcing and manufacturing. One of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known element for another with a reasonable expectation of success and the results of the substitution would have been predictable, namely an actuator driving a vehicular exterior door handle in the same manner as the assembly disclosed by Qiu.
Qiu is silent on wherein a gasket is disposed between the first portion and the second portion but Fig 3 appears to depict the groove in the housing where a gasket would be placed. Paragraph [0055] discusses in depth the sealing of power connection port 2 and output port 3 so it would have been likely that Qiu would also seal the housing to which both ports are located.
Sobecki teaches it is known in the vehicular exterior door handle assembly art for a housing (48) comprising a first portion (48a) and a second portion (48b) to comprise wherein a gasket is disposed between the first portion and the second portion [0056].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, using KSR Rationale C, to modify the housing of Qiu with housing gasket of Sobecki. The prior art contains a “base” device upon which the claimed invention can be seen as an “improvement” and a “comparable” device that has been improved the same way as the claimed invention. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to explicitly add a housing gasket in order to improve the environmental performance of the vehicular exterior door handle assembly. One of ordinary skill in the art could have applied the known “improvement” in the same way to the “base” device with a reasonable expectation of success and the results would have been predictable, namely actuator housing with the edge of the housing sealed as well as the exterior ports of the housing.
Regarding claim 22, Qiu in view of Velicanin and Sobecki teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 21, wherein the sleeve (31; 32) comprises a ramped interface (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu), and wherein the ramped interface engages the housing (1) to urge the collar into engagement with the surface of the passageway ([0055] discusses how 31; 32 are used to improve waterproof and dustproof performance and Fig 4 and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depict the engagement of 31;32 with the inner surface of 1 so it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application 8 is compressed between the 31 and the inner surface of 1).
Regarding claim 23, Qiu in view of Velicanin and Sobecki teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 21, wherein the collar (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) comprises an outer diameter (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts the collar having an outer diameter), and wherein the passageway (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) of the housing (1) comprises an inner diameter (Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts the passageway having an inner diameter), and wherein the outer diameter is greater than the inner diameter (Fig 1 and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depict the outer diameter to be greater than the inner diameter because 32 is mounted in 3).
Regarding claim 24, Qiu in view of Velicanin and Sobecki teaches the vehicular exterior door handle assembly of claim 21, wherein the collar (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) is compressed between the plunger (8) and the surface of the passageway (see Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu) of the housing (1; [0055] discusses how 31;32 are used to improve waterproof and dustproof performance and Annotated excerpt Fig 3-Qiu depicts this engagement so it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application compressed between the collar and the inner surface of passageway).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following patents are cited to further show the state of the art for vehicular exterior door handle assemblies.
Zhou et al., CN 217269488 U, teaches a hidden door handle actuator of a motor vehicle with a housing, a motor, a plunger, and a sleeve.
Gu et al., CN 117145328 A, teaches a hidden door handle actuator with a housing, a motor, a plunger, and a sleeve.
Xia et al., CN 215859605 U, teaches a linear motion actuator for a hiding handle with a housing, a motor, a plunger, and a sleeve.
Liu et al., CN 215485375 U, teaches a hidden door handle actuator of a motor vehicle with a housing, a motor, a plunger, and a sleeve.
Wu, CN 209494365 U, teaches a hidden door handle electric actuator with a housing, a motor, a plunger, and a sleeve.
Couto Maquieir, FR 3115552 A1, teaches an electromechanical actuator for a motor vehicle with a housing, a motor, a plunger, and a sleeve.
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/STEVEN A TULLIA/Examiner, Art Unit 3675